Mid Week Distraction No. 12

okay, i have about half an hour to get this post out as the power is due to go off at 8pm. yes, South Africa is in the middle of an energy crisis. if you don’t live here you probably don’t know this (or care) but we have run out of electricity. ha! ha! ha! i am just laughing to make myself feel better, and also there are so many strange and wonderful things about living in SA that you kind of just have to go with the flow.

How do you find all of this loveliness each week? There’s just so much good stuff here!! I so enjoy all the cool/profound/funny stuff you open my eyes to… 1:1000 – so great. Grace Bonney – fantastic interview AND you got me on the TGD website which is just insanely great and now I know about their awesome magazine! The Guide to Eating Healthy had me laughing out loud. Brain Pickings, another one I’ve never heard of, that post by Maria Popova on Anne Lamott was truly lovely. La Petit Theatre Dior… oh heavenly handiwork! What artistry. Train Hopping, dreamy. And Jeff, oh wonderful Jeff.
Thank you for sharing all of these great, great things.

I experienced load shedding (new term for me) last week in CT and funnily I wasn’t too bothered by it! I think it’s because we were always outside doing things and didn’t care too much about electricity ;P

Noooo the kinspiracy is awesome! Made me laugh so much and how is it that people love to photograph their feet so much?? Although I must admit whoever peruses the Internet these days (me included) is guilty of at least one feet and one coffee photographs. Anne Lamott words are just….so true.

Oh, gosh, thanks a million for featuring 1:1000! Honored to be among such a fantastic collection. I sent my sister that Anne Lamott post to cheer her up after a bad week…and my father-in-law has been wearing those white New Balance shoes for years!

The electricity outages sound like quite the challenge–that must be so limiting. What about food in the fridge? Do they have the blackouts at night? I can just imagine the entitled American outrage that would ensue if that happened in the US.

Where I live we regularly get power outages or boil water advisories, just due to poor infrastructure. I am actually currently working on an architectural project in Cape Town and from my research (and from being there) I’ve observed how underserved many parts of Cape Town (and South Africa as a whole) are with regard to basic services like electricity, wifi, etc. Solar power is a really viable option for South Africa, especially now in summer, so maybe something to consider as a supplement to your electric services in the future. Best of luck, thanks for the links!

it actually doesn’t bother me very much. it’s kind of a drop in the ocean compared to what other people in the country have to deal with. and it’s only ever 2 hours or so at a time. we are mostly always prepared for it (charged devices, food in the fridge etc).